Electric igniter



E. J. KANE.

ELECTRIC IG NITER. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 18. 1918.

,333v,5%8a Patented Mar 9, 1920.

q 1 i 37 /2 /5 f 1 m;@v w 1 Z UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDMUND JOSEPH KANE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR '10 WEBSTER ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF RACINE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Original application filed January 14, 1915, Serial No. 2,097. Divided and this application filed September 18, 1918. Serial No. 254,535.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown that I, EDMUND JOSEPH KANE, a citizenof the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Electric Ignitersj'of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relatesto improvements in electric igniters used in the ignition systems of explosive engines, and is especially concerned with magneto generators of that type in which-an oscillatory armature or inductor is employed in connection with the makeand-break type of ignition systems.

This application is a division of my prior application for electric igniters, Serial No. 2097, filed Jan. 14th, 1915. The objects of my invention are:

1. To provide a simple and efiicient device of the character described.

2. To provide simple means for actuating the oscillatory inductor of the magneto and for operating the make-and-break contacts.

3. To provide a novel arrangement of the parts of the igniter whereby the motor and the make-and-break contacts may be removed from the engine as an entity without disturbing the adjustment of the parts rela tive to each other.

Further objects will appear as the description progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan View of my improved igniter. shown as attached to a fragment of a cylinder of an internal combustion engine.

Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1, but showing a larger portion of the cylinder of the engine than in Fig.1, parts of the magneto being broken away for the purpose of better illustration; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

In the figures of the drawings similar reference characters are used for referring to similar parts and the sections are taken looking in the direction of the small arrows.

Referring to the drawings, the reference, character 1 indicates a portion of a cylinder of an internal combustion engine which is provided with a suitable opening for the insertion of parts of a make-and-break ignition system. An ignition block 8 is provided with an extension 9 which extends through the opening into the cylinder. At the inner end of the extension 9 there is a fixed contact 10 which is mounted in the block 8 and insulated therefrom in the usual manner, such insulation not being shown.

' A conductor wire 11 is secured to the outer 7 end of the contact member 10 between the nuts 12 and 13.

An arm 14 is formed integrally with the block 8 and carries a bearing member 15 at 'in contact with sleeve 15 and secured thereto by the set screw 25. 7

One end of the conductor 11 is connected to or is part of the winding on the polecore 19, and its winding is connected to the winding on pole-core 18 in the usual manner not shown. The other end 24 of the winding on pole-core 18 is secured to the supporting block 25 by the screw 25 or other suitable fastening means to ground the circuit to the frame work of the magneto.

A movable contact 26 coacts with the fixed contact 10 and is provided with a portion extending throughthe block 8 and in electrical contact therewith. On the outer end of that portion of the contact 26 which extends through and beyond the block 8 is fixed an arm 27. Between the arm 27 and theblock 8 a torsion spring 28 surrounds the extended portion of the contact 26. One end of this spring engages the block 8 and the other end Patented Mar. 9, 1920.

the arms of the yoke 30 is positioned beneath the anvil 29 so that upon oscillation of the shaft 16 this end of the yoke 30 engages the anvil 29 to open the contacts 26 and 10. The arms of the'yoke member 30 are provided with lateral extensions 30 and 30 which are connected with the inner ends of the tension springs 31 and 32 respectively. The outer ends of the springs 31 and.32 are secured to the brackets 33 and 34: on the pole pieces 20 and 21, respectively, so that the tension of the springs 31 and 32 normally maintains the arm member 30 in a position so that one of its arms is in striking relation to the anvil 29, the osition of the anvil varying obviously with its described adjustment. The yoke member 30 is provided with an upwardly extending actuating arm 35, adapted to be engaged by the push rod 36. The push rod 36 is actuated from the crank shaft of the engine, not shown. The end of the p-ush rod 36, which engages the arm 35, is mounted on a flanged roller 38.

The roller 38 is journaled on the arm 37 formed integrally with the bearing member 15. The push rod 36 is provided with an inclined cam surface on member 62, arranged to cooperate with the roller 38 so that upon longitudinal movement of the push rod the push rod will engage the arm 35 oscillating the arm 35 and through it the yoke member 30. After the cam surface 62 rides upon roller 38 the push rod is raised from the arm 35, permitting springs 31 and 32 to restore the yoke member 30 to its normal'position,

owing to the tension of springs 31 and 32,

and due to the momentum of the yoke 30 the latter will be carried slightly beyond its normal position and engage the anvil 29, thereby rocking the contact member 26 away from the contact 10 and opening the ignition circuit. This opening of the circuit produces a spark for igniting the explosive charges in the engine cylinders.

By referring to the preferred embodiment of my invention as depicted in the drawing it will be seen that the single spring 28 is, due to the manner of its connection with the movable electrode shaft and the igniter block 8, of the torsional class of springs, while the multiple springs 31, 32 acting cumulatively upon the oscillating yoke member 30 are tension springs exerting their combined elastic resistance to place tension upon yoke member 30 whenever it is oscillated from its normal position of rest. Furthermore, while torsion spring 28 is shown formed of a 11111011811121.1181 grade of spring wire than the multiple tension springs 31, 32, it will also be obvious that its relative tensional relation to the combined springs 31, 32 will be greatly diminished by the system of leverages disclosed in the drawings of these associated parts. For example, torsion spring 28 must exert its reaction upon anvil lever 27 at a point relatively close to the fulcrum of this lever while the combined tension of springs 31 and 32 is exerted upon the outer extremities of yoke 30, one of"which arts also forms the striker and comes in irect contact with the anvil 29 on arm 27, so that there is no loss of the reacting power of this pair of springs. This multiplies the effectiveness of springs 31, 32 over the torsion spring 28 many times, with the result that in the combination of these elements shown in the drawing the reaction of .the combined rotor springs is controlling, and when the momentum of the rotor carries it over center obviously the less effectively arranged single spring 28 will yield allowing the igniter points to separate, but closing them quickly whenthe rebounding efiect of the rotor yoke is withdrawn.

In practice, I prefer to adjust the anvil 29, which as shown in the drawings, is of an old and wellknown form to those skilled in this art, in relation to movable electrode arm 27 and the striking part of the yoke 30, so that when the yoke is at rest it will not influence the position of the movable electrode arm 27 with the result that normally the electrode points will be in contact, which, as well known to those skilled in this art, is desirable in keeping the contact points of the electrodes free from deposits of carbon or other substances on the interior of the engine cylinder that may interfere with however, of anvil 29 to precisely close the' normal gap between it and yoke 30, as shown, for example in Figs. 2 and 3, will not change the described mode of operation of the igniter points, but if the anvil be still further adjusted toward the yoke after the gap disappears, obviously th anvil 27 will rest normally incontact with the yoke and the igniter points, will be normally separated by the increased leverage of springs 31, 32 over spring: 28, to be closed momentarily when the rotor yoke is rocked or cooked away from it and afterward quickly separated by the rebound impact of the yoke on its release from operating plunger 36. The portion of member 30 which engages the bottom of anvil 29 is preferably rounded or curved, in order to effect uniform movement of the arm 27 during the time the member 30 is in contact with anvil 29. The field pieces and inductor are not shown in detail, since their specific parts are not part of this invention. Any suitable field pieces or inductor may be used, as desired.

lVhile I have illustrated and described the preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the precise details and arrangement set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and changes as may come within the pended claims.

I claim:

1. In an ignition apparatus for internal combustion engines, a frame adapted to be mounted upon the cylinder of the engine, an igniter block carried by the frame and arranged to extend through an aperture in the engine cylinder, inner and outer bearings carried by the frame, an oscillatory operating member journaled in said bearings, a trip finger on the oscillatory member disposed intermediate said bearings, spring means tending to hold the oscillatory member in a given position with'respect to the frame, said igniter comprising make and break electrodes, an operating arm on one of said electrodes, a magneto generator carried by the frame, the rotor of which is connected with said oscillatorv member, whereby motion imparted to the oscillatory member is transmitted to the rotor and means on said oscillatory member arranged to engage the aforesaid electrode arm to eifect the operation of the electrodes.

2. An ignition apparatus for internal combustion engines comprising a frame, an igniter block carrying make and break electrodes supported by the frame, inner and outer bearings forming parts of said frame, an oscillatory member carried by said bearings, spring means tending to hold the oscillatory member in a given position, a trip finger on the oscillatory member intermediate said bearings, a magneto generator carried by the frame, and means whereby motion imparted to said oscillatory member is utilized to effect the operation of both the magneto and spark electrodes.

3. An ignition mechanism comprising an igniter plu stationary and movable electrodes carried by the igniter plug, a bracket, projecting laterally from the plug, a magneto generator supported by the bracket, an operating arm for the movable electrode, said bracket affording a pair of spaced coaxial bearings, an operating mechanism supscope of the apreported in said bearings, spring means acting upon said operating mechanism to hold the latter in a certain position, engine driven mechanism arranged to engage the operat' ing mechanism to move the same against the action of the spring means, and then to release it, means whereby motion imparted to said operating mechanism is transmitted to the magneto generator, and means on the operating mechanism arranged to engage the operating arm of the movable electrode when the operating mechanism is moved under the action of said springs upon being released from the engine driven mechanism.

4. An ignition apparatus comprising in combination with an igniter plug provided with spark electrodes, avbracket carried by the igniter block, a magneto carried by said bracket, an operating mechanism for said magneto and spark electrodes comprising an oscillatory member, bearing for which is provided by said bracket, spring means tending to hold said oscillatory member in a certain position, and means for moving said oscillatory member against the tension of said spring means and for releasing the same. i

5. An ignition apparatus comprising, in combination with an igniter plug provided with stationary and movable electrodes, a bracket carried by said igniter plug, a magneto carried by said bracket, and an operating device for the magneto and movable electrode, consisting of an oscillatory member carried by and mounted for oscillation on said bracket, a trip finger on said oscillatory member, and spring means tending to hold said oscillatory member in a certain position.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 4th day of September, A. D.

EDMUND JOSEPH KANE.

Witnesses:

EARL F. PIERCE, ANDREW WINTERCORN. 

